Sunway Bhd appoints Idris Jala as co-chairman

Malaysia's economic update 2015 with Idris Jala,. Rep: Erle Martin, Daniel Khoo and Sharidan. News and Business desk.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Idris Jala (pic), adviser to the Prime Minister for the National Transformation Programme, has been appointed co-chairman and independent director of Sunway Bhd effective Friday.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the property development and construction group said Idris,  58, was a “renowned transformation guru in turning around companies’ performance through his big fast results methodology and transformational strategies that are innovative, rigorous and relevant to today’s demands.”

The president and CEO of Pemandu Associates has also been made a member of the nomination committee.

Sunway said Idris is an expert resource speaker at the Harvard Health Leaders' Ministerial Forum and a visiting fellow of practice at the Oxford Blavatnik School of Government.

Prior to his government role, he spent 23 years at Shell and was later managing director and chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines for three years.

The board of Sunway Bhd has remained relatively stable since its listing in August 2011 as an entity created following the merger of Sunway Holdings Bhd and Sunway City Bhd. Only two new appointments were made since then prior to Idris'.

The last new face coming on board was former Bank Negara deputy governor and Harvard-trained economist Tan Sri Dr Lin See-Yan, appointed in March 2015.